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Women's Day rally demands equality for all

Kingston students, residents and representatives from a number of local organizations came together for a rally to mark International Women’s Day and to demand equality for women of all walks of life. (Meghan Balogh/The Whig-Standard/Postmedia Network)

A few dozen Kingston residents gathered in Skeleton Park on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day.

The group heard a number of speakers before heading out on a march along Clergy and Princess streets to City Hall, carrying signs that encouraged equality and fairness for women of all backgrounds, as well as those who identify as feminine.

Traditionally a day to mark the advancement of labour rights for women, International Women’s Day in Kingston took on a tone of broad and determined inclusion.

“We’re trying to have a celebration as well that celebrates women, but across the spectrum of diversity and what that means, embracing the various intersections of femininity and other markers,” said Lesley Jamieson, who attended the rally with the group The Fight for $15 and Fairness, one of several organizations represented at the Sunday event.

Keynote speakers from Solidarity Kingston, the AKA Autonomous Socialist Centre, TransFamily Kingston, and the Equity Committee from the sociology department at Queen’s University all addressed the crowd with their thoughts on how many social issues today are also women’s issues.

The rights of trans people, immigrants and Indigenous Peoples were offered as examples of ways in which women’s rights are often disregarded or denied.

“As we celebrate the advancement of the lives of working women, we must not leave behind the advancements of immigrant women, trans women, women with disabilities, black women, brown women, Muslim women, queer women, Indigenous, all women of colour, and every person who identifies with femininity,” Mariela Libedinsky said.

“Let us be mindful and intentional with the ways in which we respect and uplift the women and gender non-conforming people in our society, and let us be equally mindful and intentional in dismantling the patriarchy, colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism and capitalist domination which directly stands in the way of creating a more equitable environment for women everywhere.”

Speakers also acknowledged the situation of Kingston on Indigenous lands.

“We also acknowledge that in Kingston we are gathering on the unceded territories of the Huron-Wendat, Algonquin, Mississauga and Haudenosaunee peoples and that the colonial state is a major perpetrator of gendered violence and oppression on these lands,” it was stated in the event announcement created by Queen’s Socialists.

Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala attended the rally.

“I think it’s important to show solidarity,” Kiwala said. “It’s important for us to make sure that we come together as a community, as interest groups, whether it’s just women, whether it’s LGBTQI2-S, and make sure that our voices are strong, and that we come together as a community and defend our rights. It’s especially important in today’s political climate, whether you are thinking about what’s happening in other countries or what’s happening our own country or province.”

The event was hosted by Queen’s Socialists, who wrote: “Today, we fight for gender justice across intersections of race, class, immigration status, sexuality, ability and more. We acknowledge that all women’s experiences are not the same, but that together we are stronger in our fight for equality and justice for all women.”